ALLENDALE — Despite a strong effort, the Northern Michigan University women’s lacrosse team’s season came to an end Friday as the Wildcats fell to Davenport 17-7 in the GLIAC semifinals.

NMU (6-8, 4-4 GLIAC) kept it close during the first half, trailing only 7-5 at halftime, but the Panthers caught fire after the break and never looked back.

Davenport got on the scoreboard first with a goal at 28:51, but less than a minute later, the Wildcats answered back on a goal from Katelyn Mongold. After the Panthers pushed their lead to 3-1, Chloe Everson cut the deficit to one with a tally off an assist from Minnie Bittell.

With DU leading 5-2, Northern started to find its groove. Clara Johnson scored with 7:37 left off a Bittell assist and Emily Renfrew scored with 3:44 left on the clock to pull the ‘Cats within one. Less than two minutes later, Renfrew tied it up at 5-5 with Aleya Speas getting the assist.

Things fell apart for NMU in the second half. The Panthers got three quick goals early, and after Renfrew picked up her third tally of the game with 23:52 remaining, DU busted loose on a 5-0 run to break the game open. Renfrew did get one more goal in the match, but by that time, the gap was too much to overcome.

NMU goalie Aliyah Smukala finished with 12 saves, while Speas had two draw controls and tied Smukala and Renfrew with three ground balls apiece. Lauren Rygiel forced four turnovers for the Wildcats.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Writer Ryan Stieg. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.